


The Fox Who Loved a Hamster

by Samnyeong



Series: SVT as animals, somewhat [2]
Category: SEVENTEEN (Band)
Genre: M/M, fluffy angst with happy ending, idk what this is I'm sorry, non-au but also kind of soulmate au-ish, soonhui, strong bromance!everyone, tags are looking repetitive, the angst part is only in their "flashbacks"
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-03
Updated: 2016-10-03
Packaged: 2018-08-19 04:26:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,170
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8189917
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Samnyeong/pseuds/Samnyeong
Summary: The Performance Unit get their fortune told, and ever since then, Junhui has been having some recurring dreams of himself as a fox pup.





	

**Author's Note:**

> I'm so confused, Wonwoo's supposed to be a fox, but he's also a sloth... ;;;;  
> Personally I see Jun as a fox //baby fox- so I went with this set-up.  
> It turned into this weird mess.
> 
> I guess you could try figuring out who each member was in the "past life'" timeline, it shouldn't interfere with the reading though, just something fun... for me.
> 
> Answers are at the end.

"Whoo... we're finally done! Now we just have to meet up with the others!" Chan cheered as the Performance Unit headed out of the building, each of them looking very tired from a long day of work. Thankfully now they could relax and simply wait for the van to come and take them back to the dorm.

"Yeah... we finished earlier than expected though, so the wait might take a while..." Soonyoung pointed out while checking the schedule their CEO sent them via email on his phone, "What do you guys want to do while we wait? It's no fun to just stand around, and we might attract attention..."

The four contemplated their options, there really wasn't much to do within the area anyway, and the rest of the group had their own schedules to run as well so it was just them. Minghao glanced around at the buildings around them and caught sight of a fortune telling sign, "Why don't we try that?"

"Fortune telling? I didn't know you were into that." Junhui commented in a teasing tone while Minghao shoved him in the side playfully.

"I'm not, it's just a good way to kill time. Besides, we had our fortunes told last time for Pretty U, I don't see why we can't do it again this time."

"Yeah, I mean, it should be interesting." Soonyoung shrugged as they headed towards the stand. It was laid out in a very simple manner, like something one would see at a night market or something. There wasn't even a crystal ball on the table, so Junhui wondered if they were getting their cards read again. Well, there were many forms of fortune telling anyway, so he shouldn't judge so soon.

One by one, they sat down at the desk and had their individual fortunes told while the others stood around the table and listened (with the member's permission, of course). The method turned out to be palm reading, much to Junhui's fascination. However, the fortunes told were pretty general, like "good health, bright future", etc, things that you would probably expect on store-bought cards, nothing specific. Well, they _were_ only doing this to kill time after all, so it's nothing to be disappointed over.

Just as they were about to leave after thanking the fortune teller, the cloaked figure suddenly stopped them and asked if they wanted to hear what they were like in their previous life, charge free.

The four looked around at one another. It seemed like a fairly harmless offer, and they had a little bit more time left anyway, so why not? Junhui only hoped that his past was more interesting than apparently what his future held. No offense to the fortune teller, of course.

"You, dear, were a fox pup." The fortune teller said in a chipper voice, stroking her hand over the lines across Junhui's palm, "Never got to grow up, sad little thing." That sent a shiver down Junhui's spine for some reason as he quickly withdrew his hand, blinking rapidly at the fortune teller's smile while the others apologized for his potentially rude action. Was it just him or did the air just suddenly grow extremely cold...?

He eventually had to snap out of his trance as Soonyoung practically pushed him off the chair for his turn, good thing Minghao was there to steady him. The normal Junhui would make a joke about how Minghao was always there to pick him up when he fell, but he just wasn't in the mood anymore. He shouldn't think too much about it, after all, it was fortune telling, it might as well had been a made up story.

"You were a hamster, died with a broken heart."

"That means I've been given the chance of rebirth in order to find my true love, right?" Soonyoung laughed, clearly taking his past life in a much more lighthearted manner.

Minghao was apparently a black sheep, and Chan was apparently the son of a humble family that ran a vet business in the woods. Junhui found that silly while the others complained about why Chan was the only one who got to be human. 

They thanked the fortune teller for her time, but she simply saw them off with a mysterious smile, nodding to them as they waved back before entering the van.

From the way he was furiously typing, Junhui could tell that Chan was probably updating Seungkwan about their fortune teller visit, which meant that by the time they got home, everyone in the group would have heard already. Junhui closed his eyes tiredly, it was better to prepare for the teasing now than worrying about it later. All the shit he was going to get from Wonwoo for supposedly being his spirit animal in his past life... Although Junhui was convinced that Wonwoo had most likely been a sloth instead of a fox.

Since it was going to take a while for them to get back, might as well catch up on some sleep he had missed during their tour, plus he was still just a little jet-lagged, he was't even sure which part of the world clock he was following at this point.

Oh well... he'll figure it out sooner or later, right now he just had to focus on sleep...

* * *

_He saw pine trees. He liked pine trees. So of course, the logical answer was to go towards them._

_He thought he heard a noise, what were those things called again? Oh yes, cars. He thought he heard a little boy screaming, the crunch of leaves around him as someone came towards him. Before he could react, he found himself lifted off the ground by a pair of gloved hands. He simply watched dumbly as his feet dangled in the air, the wind hitting him in the face in quite a painful manner as a woman carried him inside quickly, safe from the thunder storm._

_Ah, of course, they were common in the summer after all, he remembered his mother warning him about it. Why didn't he listen and just stayed inside the den like his siblings?_

_Now he was getting captured by humans, and who knows what they do to foxes? Oh, whatever... he was too wet and cold to think straight. So he closed his eyes._

_The next time he opened his eyes, he was in a fully lit room with a large dog sniffing at him while a smaller one held the larger dog back by the tail, a disapproving look in the younger dog's eyes as though exasperated by the older's lack of discipline. Of course, he didn't understand what the dogs were barking about, but at least he didn't sense any malicious intent._

_As the two dogs continued to bark at each other, the fox pup noticed that there were others in the room. A very well-groomed cat was sitting comfortably on a cushion, his eyes fixed on the newcomer, shining with curiosity but again, not hostility. Between the cat's paws sat a grumpy-looking hedgehog who had curled itself into a spiky ball, clearly not in a good mood. A white feathered parrot with a yellow crest squawked and laughed at the two dogs who were now engaged in an intense game of chasing each other's tails._

_Mommy was right, Hell does exist- was what went through the fox pup's mind._

* * *

Junhui felt the van come to a stop and woke up, just in time to see the van door open and the members waiting for them outside. That dream felt strangely realistic... but it was probably just because of what the fortune teller said. Still groggy, he half stumbled and half jumped out of the vehicle, moving towards the first figure he saw and automatically putting an arm around them. They didn't fight back so he guessed they could have been anyone but Minghao or Mingyu.

"Jun-hyung, you okay?" He identified the voice as Hansol's, "Did you get carsick?"

"No, just sleepy... what time is it?" Junhui prayed to any deity that Soonyoung wasn't going to go "10:10" on him.

"It's just past lunch time, but... do you want to go take a nap?" Hansol asked, leading him inside, clearly looking concerned as Junhui was usually extremely hyperactive.

"Oh hey, you're back! What's wrong with him?"

"Mingyu-hyung, don't block the doorway."

Through his unfocused gaze, Junhui still managed to make out Jisoo sitting on a sofa with a book in hand, Jihoon was sitting in front of the guitar player, a deep crease between his eyebrows as he studied a piece of paper on the desk. Junhui wasn't sure what it was, but he guessed they would eventually know. Nobody dared to interrupt Jihoon's thinking time, and he was probably going to lock himself in his studio later.

He wondered why he wasn't moving any further than the doorway. Wasn't Hansol leading him back to his room or at least somewhere he could lie down?

"You two, stop bickering and clear the way already!" Seungkwan's shrill scold seemed to answer his question as Mingyu reluctantly moved aside, finally allowing Hansol to move forward.

He thought he heard the younger boy ask him something but his mind felt too hazy to think. Hansol had laid him down on the couch, muttering something about getting a glass of water and worried that Junhui might had caught a cold.

Junhui tried to tell him not to worry and he just needed rest, but only a croak managed to come out of his throat. He tried again, but his eyes felt too heavy, and the last thing he heard was Jeonghan yelling for ice.

* * *

_Over the past few days, the fox pup learned that he had apparently been "imprisoned" by the humans as they wanted to cure him. This place was apparently some sort of hospital for animals, and the vet running the business was apparently very softhearted and would help any injured animal she comes across, especially if her son begged._

_The hunting dog had explained to him that once he was cured, he was free to go. Some animals also choose to stay, like the ones in the room right now. There were more of them being kept in a barn-like facility next to the house as well, and the hunting dog had promised to introduce the fox pup to the animals there when he got well enough to walk._

_It was hard to communicate at first, but he gradually began to understand the dogs better due to similar sounds they make and their body language in general was very close to what the fox pup was used to. He was still having trouble getting to know the others, but they all seemed friendly enough. The hedgehog was fine as long as you didn't get too close, and the cat was very gentle to the fox pup, occasionally sleeping next to him on cold nights in case he needed the additional body heat._

_The most helpful creature by far, however, was the hamster. He was usually kept inside a cage in another room, isolated by the rest because of his status as a "pet" instead of a "patient", but the little boy would let him outside at times, and he would scurry over to the patients' room. The fox pup had his first encounter when he woke up one day to find the hamster trying very hard to adjust an ice pack that was meant to be balanced on the fox pup's head._

_Today as well, the hamster had a tiny bag of shaved ice between its teeth, plopping it down proudly in front of the fox pup's paws as though to say, "I made it all by myself!" Even though the fox pup was sure that the little boy had helped him out somewhat, and that little amount would probably be only useful if he had a broken claw. Nonetheless, the fox pup bent his head down and let the hamster climb up, placing the bag of ice on his head._

* * *

"Jun!" Junhui blinked, surprised by the sudden stream of light as he opened his eyes, feeling cold water run down his forehead and realized it was from a bag of melted ice that he guessed Jeonghan had set on his forehead when he collapsed. But the face that greeted him was Soonyoung's, a very uncharacteristically worried look. Junhui was so used to seeing Soonyoung with a happy cheerful expression that he was completely caught off guard by any sign of genuinely negative emotions coming off him, "Thank God you're awake, at first your whole body was burning, but then your hand became so cold, and Jisoo-hyung tried warming you up by wrapping more blankets on you, but- hey, your eyes are unfocused..."

Sooyoung continued to ramble out, looking into Junhui's eyes with an even more worried look, both hands were gripped around Junuhi's right hand, a seemingly feeble attempt at warming Junhui's temperature up somehow.

Junhui was still confused, it seemed that he just had a continuation of some sort from the previous dream, that sure didn't happen often... Right?

"Is he okay?" Hansol asked, removing the bag from Junhui's forehead and drying his head with a towel.

"I don't know!" Junhui's chest tightened at Soonyoung's desperate wail and felt the younger's hands tighten their grip, "Should we call the manager? What if he needs to be taken to the hospital? Oh god, it's all my fault for overworking him-"

"Soonyoung, calm down." Jisoo soothed, crouching down next to Soonyoung by the couch and putting a cool hand on Junhui's forehead, "See? His fever's gone down."

"WHAT IF THAT'S A SIGN THAT HE'S DYING?!"

"Don't be ridiculous." Jihoon scoffed, but his actions were tender as he removed a blanket covered in sweat from under Junhui, replacing it with a clean one. "We'll check again after dinner, if he doesn't show any signs of getting better then, we'll call the ambulance, okay?"

"Fine... I just hope it's not too late by then."

"Since when were you so morbid?"

 Junhui opened his mouth to assure Soonyoung that he was feeling fine, but clearly that wasn't the case as he shrank back slightly into the blankets, suddenly feeling extremely cold.

"Oh, he moved just now! Hang in there, Jun-"

* * *

_Keeping his promise, the hunting dog had lead the fox pup outside and into the barn where he met a camel, a horse, a black sheep, and a sloth who enjoyed hanging around (literally) between the stalls. The fox pup wondered how the heck some of these unusual creatures ended up here, and the hunting dog explained that the camel was apparently the pet of some foreign prince, and the sloth was originally from a zoo and was here for rehabilitation as the vet had offered to lighten the zoo hospital's workload. Meanwhile the horse and black sheep were apparently also rescued by the little boy after getting lost in severe weather and claimed to be from a nearby farm._

_The hamster had insisted on coming, or at least the fox pup thinks that was what he wanted as he had climbed onto the fox pup's head when the latter decided to go outside this morning with the hunting dog, and refused to budge from there since._

_When they got back, the hamster tried to feed the fox pup his "treasured" sunflower seeds, but of course the fox pup couldn't take them. Seeing the disappointed twitching whiskers of the hamster, the fox pup finally gave in and decided to try one. It was every bit as terrible as he thought it would be, but the hamster seemed satisfied._

* * *

Junhui felt a headache coming on as Soonyoung shoved a bowl of oatmeal in front of him the moment he opened his eyes, this time he was able to summon enough energy to sit up, with the help of a prompted up pillow. These dreams were getting a little creepy now...

"What are you doing?"

"Feeding you, you slept through dinner and Seungkwan was about to call the ambulance." Soonyoung replied with a completely straight face, "But you look much better than earlier, so I guess it was a false alarm. You still need to eat though, so eat."

"All right, all right, don't be pushy, I'll eat." Junhui chuckled weakly, attempting to take the spoon from Soonyoung, but the latter held on insistently, motioning for Junhui to just open his mouth.

"I'm the one who will get in trouble if you drop anything, which is highly likely given your condition." Soonyoung's tone was dead serious, so Junhui knew there was no arguing with him when he was like that.

Junhui made a face at the plain taste accompanied by the unique texture, he wasn't really a fan of plain oatmeal, he would normally eat it with honey or syrup, maybe even mix in a couple of raisins. He glanced up at Soonyoung and noticed that his usual smile had began to form, relieved at the sight of Junhui finally looking more like his usual self.

It wasn't like he minded being taken care of by Soonyoung, at least he didn't think so. "I'm sorry for making you worried." He suddenly blurted out as Soonyoung pulled back slightly to get the next spoonful.

"You better be." Soonyoung replied curtly, watching as Junhui worked on the next mouthful, then tensing up his shoulders, "It's my fault though, I overwork you."

"No, don't be silly, if that were the case everyone else would be collapsing, too. It's just me." Junhui smiled, reaching over to tilt Soonyoung's chin up gently, "Besides, you're only doing your job. Someone has to take charge."

The younger still didn't look convinced but he didn't pursue the argument, he looked deep in thought, as though weighing his options on how to go forth with the conversation. Then out of nowhere, these words blurted out of his mouth to Junhui's complete bewilderment, "Let's sleep together?"

"...Huh?"

"It'll make me feel better, and it's easier for me to monitor your condition this way even when you're sleeping, your fever's not completely gone, after all."

Junhui blinked slowly. Sure, they've slept in the same bed before when they were younger, and they've slept with their bodies sticking closely against each other on multiple occasions like during OFD or when they were on budget with overnight stays in foreign locations. However, that was for work and with the entire group, not specifically just the two of them.

He was probably just overthinking it. Besides, Soonyoung looked pretty stubborn about it, he didn't seem like he was going to take no for an answer. "Fine, as long as you promise to actually sleep and not stay up 'monitoring' me."

Soonyoung's face lightened up, but then fell again at Junhui's condition. The latter chuckled to himself at how easy it was to read him. "...Deal." Soonyoung finally grumbled after a long period of thinking and possibly attempting to look for loopholes.

With that, Junhui made his way to the bedroom with the help of Soonyoung, even though he had insisted that he was fine walking on his own, Soonyoung was being way too paranoid. On top of that, Soonyoung practically wrapped the entire blanket around Junhui once he got onto the bed, so now the bed just consisted of Soonyoung, and a giant burrito with Junhui's hairstyle.

"You'll get cold."

"I won't."

Junhui sighed. Man, Soonyoung could be so stubborn sometimes. But two could play at this game. The older dancer simply unwrapped himself and put half of the blanket over the younger, "It's pointless if you end up catching a cold while monitoring mine."

"...Which movie are you referencing?"

"Oh, you caught me." Junhui laughed as Soonyoung rolled over to hit him in the chest. The lights were turned off so Junhui couldn't see Soonyoung's expression clearly, but he thought he saw a flash of his smile. "Okay, you're really going to sleep, right?" Junhui cooed, slipping his hand between Soonyoung's cheek and the pillow, cushioning the latter's face slightly so that they were facing each other directly.

"Yes..."

"Good."

They continued to lie there, staring at each other for a while in silence, unsure of who was supposed to close their eyes first and suddenly very self-conscious about the other staring at them in their sleep.

"You close your eyes first."

"No, you close your eyes first."

They then burst into laughter at their own awkwardness. Doesn't this seem like a parody of some scene?

"Okay, let's both close our eyes together on three."

"Wait, seriously?"

"One, two, three."

"...You're peeking!"

"You're peeking, too."

Another fit of laughter before Wonwoo and Jihoon eventually scolded them to go to sleep as they weren't the only ones sharing the room. Junhui chuckled softly to himself and smiled at Soonyoung, who smiled brightly back, causing another wave of relief to wash over Junhui. It was gradual, but Soonyoung seemed to be less worried, and he would probably actually get some sleep now.

"Well... good night." Junhui murmured, tracing his thumb along Soonyoung's newly developed eye-bags thanks to the older's sudden fever in addition to their usual rigorous training menu.

"...Night." Soonyoung snuggled in closer to Junhui, one hand intertwined with the older's free hand, as though making sure he doesn't disappear in the middle of the night.

* * *

_The fox pup was gradually growing stronger, he could feel it in the ripple of his newly developed muscles, largely thanks to the vet family's care, as well as the other animals. The large puppy had congratulated him on being able to leave and return to his family in less than a week or so._

_His family... he wondered what they were doing now. Were they worried? Were they still looking for him? Or maybe they've lost hope already and were mourning for him... He didn't want them to worry, but at the same time, he was going to miss this place. He's already grown fond of all the animals here, he might even miss the two humans taking care of this bunch._

_He enjoyed hanging out with the sloth (or rather, watching the sloth hang out), the cat's presence always calmed him, the camel was very wise and told him of many travels he's had (he still needed the hunting dog's help with translating, though), and the black sheep was also very friendly and would let the fox pup ride on his back or hide in his wool on cold days._

_He would probably miss the hamster the most, of course. It wouldn't feel the same not waking up to his scurrying or seeing him fumble around in his hamster ball, trying not to bump into walls or get himself stuck under drawers._

_He would miss having the hamster constantly following at his heels, trying to keep up with the fox pup's stride as best as he could with his tiny legs, insisting that he didn't need a ride._

_He would miss having the hamster pressed up beside him, his own tail curled around the smaller creature securely when they take naps._

_He would miss hearing the hamster's annoyed squeaking when he missed a meal, or when he spent too much time outside with the barn animals instead of indoors with him._

_If only there was a way to be with his family and somehow not leave the hamster... Oh, wait, he could just take the hamster with him, right? Of course, it was the perfect plan._

* * *

"No, no, that's a horrible plan..." Junhui slurred, still half-asleep as he rubbed his eyes, then realized that his limbs were pretty badly entwined with Soonyoung's, and the younger had an extremely flushed face as he attempted to untangle himself. "Oh, morning."

"M-morning." Soonyoung stammered, still trying to get himself "untied".

Instead of helping, Junhui decided to flip himself up, pulling Soonyoung with him so that the younger was trapped below in a position that would most often only be seen in cheesy romance movies, "Let me help you." He gave a lazy smile as Soonyoung smacked him on the cheek lightly in a playful manner, his face still flushed but he was at least laughing now.

"Did you have a good sleep?"

"Y-yeah... I see you're all better?" Soonyoung eyed him in a nervous manner, unsettled by their position.

"I guess so, I feel fine." Junhui replied, pushing himself off Soonyoung so that the younger could at least sit up.

"That's... good..."

Junhui wondered if he was imagining the disappointment in Soonyoung's voice. If not, then that was way too contradicting. After all, Soonyoung was the one getting all worked up about Junhui's fever, so why would he feel disappointed about him getting better?

"When you're both done flirting, breakfast is ready downstairs." Wonwoo called from the doorway.

"Okay!" Soonyoung called, hurriedly gathering himself up from the bed and racing out, not even caring that he still had a horrible bedhead.

Junhui tilted his head to the side. The younger boy was definitely acting weird... or maybe it was just Junhui. Who knows? It was too bad, he kind of liked having Soonyoung's full attention- no, what was he thinking? It must be because of the dream.

Speaking of the dream, maybe he should search up stuff about that... he's never had these sort of "episodic" dreams before, he wondered if it meant anything or if it's caused by anything. He didn't think that the whole past life thing would influence him this much and for this long.

But first, breakfast.

When he got down, he took his usual seat between Seokmin and Hansol, munching on the contents on his plate with his eyes fixed on his phone, trying to look up information about continuous or recurring dreams. He found a discussion thread where some people suggest that they could be flashbacks from a past life that have been deeply implanted in the current soul carrier.

Well, that was ridiculous, but he did kind of expect that. To his horror, the explanation also kind of made sense in this situation, or it felt like too much of a coincidence. He then proceeded to scroll through the thread, wondering if anyone mentioned a way to stop it.

'If you are having recurring dreams, it's best if you see it through until the end. Your subconscious is trying to tell you something. Something important.' That was juuuust a little creepy, but Junhui couldn't find any other responses that came remotely close to helping his situation, so he just had to go for it. How bad could it be anyway? It wasn't like he was directly influenced by the dreams, he just had to keep sleeping, right?

"Do you guys mind if I took a nap?"

The entire table turned to look at him, it was both a terrifying and impressive sight.

"You literally just woke up." Minghao pointed out, "Are you still not feeling well?"

"Yeah, kind of... wake me up when it's time for practice?"

"If you're not feeling well you don't have to come to practice." Seungcheol said, a light scowl on his face, clearly concerned about Junhui's health especially since he seemed to be in critical condition yesterday despite his speedy recovery.

"No, I'm fine, really. It's not fair on the rest of you." Junhui insisted, then quickly excused himself from the table and entered the living room. Now then, the real problem was, could he actually go back to sleep that easily? Like Minghao said, he pretty much just woke up.

Whatever, he should just try lying down on the couch first. Good. Now he should try closing his eyes...

* * *

_The fox pup managed to sneak into the next room one day when the little boy left the door slightly open after his meal visit, he immediately jumped onto the counter where the hamster's cage was set. The hamster initially seemed excited to see him and scurried across the cage, his excited expression was eventually replaced by a confused look as the fox pup looked back at him seriously._

_With his tail, the fox pup motioned for the hamster to escape with him, back to his family. Of course, the hamster refused, the fox pup had clearly forgotten their roles in the wild. Foxes were predators, and the hamster would surely only fall prey to his siblings or parents. The fox pup insisted that his family would understand, but the hamster refused to change its mind._

_Out of frustration, the fox pup lunged forward, attempting to grab the hamster by force, his sharp teeth snapping at the now terrified fur-ball, crashing against the bars of his cage. It was the first time the hamster felt grateful to be within bars, and also the first time he recognized the fox pup as a "wild animal". For a moment, it seemed as though the cage was actually going to give into the fox pup's relentless attacks, until a wire caught onto the fox pup's snout, tearing flesh and drawing blood._

_That made the fox pup pause, and when he finally saw how terrified he had made the hamster, he felt horrified by himself. All he did was prove the hamster's point, there was no excuse for it._

_Regretfully, the fox pup turned and left the room, but he didn't return to the patients' room either. Instead, he left the house through the doggy-door, feeling a strong gush of cold wind barrel into his face the moment he set foot outside. Underneath him, some white substance made a crunching noise, and he felt his entire body practically freeze up at the touch._

_Oh, was it winter already? Come to think of it, it was his first snow. His mother wouldn't let him and his siblings outside during previous years, and he now understood why. There were plenty of blizzards in this area, he remembered the dogs warning him about it before. Just his luck, huh?_

_But he couldn't go back now. He wasn't ready to face the hamster again, and he didn't think he ever will be. So he could only move forward._

_He pushed, and pushed, and pushed, he wasn't even sure if he was making any progress at all against the blizzard, but he just knew he had to keep going... Until he found himself practically half-buried in snow, which immediately froze up along his sides and clung against his fur, dragging him further down. The fox pup could barely breath as the snow piled up to his neck._

_As he watched the snow slowly covering up his snout and his vision started to fade into darkness, he let out a hoarse laugh. How fitting it was to die in his first snow, when he was dying from his first love._

_If the real world was like this, then he'd much rather die than be reborn._

_He saw pine trees. He liked pine trees-_

* * *

"JUN, DON'T LEAVE!" Soonyoung screamed suddenly from behind him. Wait, behind him? How was that possible, wasn't he lying down on the couch...? Something was wrong with his sense of direction, "JUN, JUST STOP... JUST STOP WALKING! WAIT RIGHT THERE, I'M COMING DOWN!" No, his voice was definitely coming from behind him... and what did he mean "stop walking"?

"What in the world...?" Junhui blinked as he found himself outside of the dorm, wearing nothing but a sweater and sweat pants, his feet were _freezing,_ and when he looked down he knew why. "Great, snow, are you kidding me?"

Luckily, Soonyoung had brought extra clothes down along with a pair of shoes and socks, practically choking Junhui as he wrapped layers and layers of scarves around his neck.

"Soonyoung, I'm fine now. Really."

"What were you thinking?!"

"I wasn't!" It seemed like a reflex response at first, but as soon as the words fell out, Junhui couldn't stop himself from continuing on, "I wasn't thinking, okay? I wasn't thinking of your feelings, I wasn't thinking of anyone else's feelings, I was just being a selfish stupid pup that was too young to face the real world."

He watched as Soonyoung's mouth fell open with shock, his arms still halfway around Junhui's neck with probably the sixth scarf in hand. For a moment, they just stayed there, and Junhui was almost convinced that Soonyoung had turned into an ice statue before the latter finally stuttered out something audible.

"You... you remember?"

" _You_ remember? Wait, what exactly are we remembering?"

"Our _past life_ , you idiot!"

Junhui rolled his eyes, he was getting a little tired of that word now. "Past life this, past life that, everyone is so hung up about those things, why can't we just face the present? The fortune teller, that discussion thread, my ancient soul, apparently? And now even you." Soonyoung looked as though he was about to throw some sharp retort back at Junhui, but was stopped by the latter's cupped hand over his mouth, "And the _present fact_ is that I may have developed feelings for you."

Soonyoung was stunned, as expected, or maybe he just wasn't talking because Junhui's hand was still covering his mouth.

"I mean, apparently I've developed feelings for you long before now, but... you know, there's nothing we can do about that, so I guess what I'm trying to say is... I'd like to fix our present relationship...?" Junhui frowned at himself, trying to dig up the right words, but apparently his Korean still needed plenty of work.

"..You scared me when you ran out into the snow." Soonyoung finally said, slightly muffled as he removed Junhui's hand from his face, "I thought I was going to lose you again. I mean, I saw it all coming, it was the same pattern... You getting sick, recovering, and you know, leaving." The younger's voice cracked on the last word as he pulled Junhui's hand close to his chest.

"But we're not 'us' from back then anymore. It's probably a good time to tell you that I didn't come out on my own will, I think I sleep-walked-"

"Oh my god, MINGYU, DID YOU FORGET TO LOCK THE DOOR AGAIN?!" Soonyoung yelled towards the building, not particularly caring if any of them could actually hear him inside.

"...But you stopped me." Junhui continued on, pretending that the interruption hadn't occurred at all, "That was different from last time, right?"

Soonyoung paused and looked at Junhui, his eyes suddenly growing extremely wide from the realization, Junhui could see the usual excited sparkle as he smiled proudly at himself, "I guess you're right! Haha... thank god..."

"And it's not like I'm walking into a blizzard this time... but I guess it was still possible for me to freeze to death out here if you hadn't noticed." Junhui shrugged, wrapping his arms around Soonyoung's waist, "I'd never leave you again."

Soonyoung sighed blissfully as Junhui leaned down to plant a kiss on his forehead, "...By the way, how did you remember?"

"Ugh, it's a long story." Junhui sighed, rubbing his temple as Soonyoung chuckled, "How did _you_ remember?"

"Well, uh... I kind of... never lost my memories." Soonyoung confessed to a very shocked Junhui, "I never told you because, you know... I was scared of the same thing repeating, and it kind of did when you started gaining back your memories, right?"

"True, but it was all against my will." Junhui felt the need to assure Soonyoung again as he took the younger's hands in his, squeezing them gently. "All right, let's get you back inside before the others get worried." Before Soonyoung could protest, Junhui lifted the shorter boy up in his arms and carried him bridal style to the front door while Soonyoung muttered frantically about how the neighbors would talk, etc.

"Wow... I kind of miss when you were still fun-sized." Junhui teased, earning a light slap on the chest from a tomato-faced Soonyoung.

But before worrying about their neighbors, the two had completely forgotten about the reactions of a certain eleven boys.

So when Junhui opened the door with Soonyoung still securely in his arms, looking completely like newly weds with snow still clinging to their hair and coats, all eleven boys turned and started yelling simultaneously while the new couple laughed awkwardly, waiting for everything to calm down, which was probably going to take another two hours or so.

Junhui was sure then that God had completed his last prayer by sending him down to Hell instead of granting rebirth.

Soonyoung turned to look at Junhui while the others continued to talk over each other, "I love you... Well, more like, I've loved you for over a decade before you were even born."

"You pick the most random moments, don't you?"

"Shut up, it's not like you can do any better."

"Hm, I guess I'll have to show you later."

Junhui smiled as Soonyoung's pale cheeks began to glow red again. Okay, maybe Hell wasn't that bad.

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> Seungcheol - Camel  
> Jeonghan - The little boy's mom/Vet  
> Joshua - Pretty cat  
> Junhui - Fox pup  
> Soonyoung - Overly hyper hamster  
> Wonwoo - Sloth  
> Jihoon - Hedgehog  
> Seokmin - Horse  
> Mingyu - Giant puppy  
> Minghao - Black sheep  
> Seungkwan - Parrot  
> Hansol - Hunting dog  
> Chan - "Little boy"


End file.
